Ava-May Littleboy: Burst inflatable was inspected before girl's death

Ava-May Littleboy was playing on an inflatable trampoline when it burst on a beach

An inflatable seaside trampoline had been inspected five days before it exploded sending a young girl into the air, the inquest into her death heard.

Ava-May Littleboy was on the inflatable when it burst on Gorleston-on-Sea beach, Norfolk, on 1 July 2018.

Witnesses said she was sent into the air - higher than the height of a house - before landing on her face on the sand.

The three-year-old from Suffolk died in hospital of a head injury.

Norfolk's senior coroner Jacqueline Lake said an equipment inspector visited Bounce About, the site of the inflatables in Gorleston, on 26 June 2018.

His report, dated 2 July, said "not all available tie downs were in use, beds were found to be firm", she said.

'Everything was fine'

Giselle Johnson, director of Johnsons Funfair Limited, trading as Bounce About, told the hearing in Norwich she was on site when the inspection took place.

She said: "He [the inspector] looked around it, he jumped on top of it, he took his shoes off first, he jumped on top, got off, came in my direction, he shook my hand.

"I asked him if everything was fine, he said everything was fine so I said 'you can send me the invoice later and then we can sort out the documents'."

Mrs Johnson declined to answer questions on how it was known when the trampoline was fully inflated and who ordered the inflatable trampoline and when.

Mrs Johnson said she "looked after the park itself" and her husband Curt Johnson "looks after the paperwork side of things".

She said a daily log was kept and equipment was checked every 15 minutes when in use.

Mrs Lake previously told jurors evidence would not include the reason why the inflatable trampoline exploded.

She said scientific analysis of the remains of the trampoline was "capable of confirming that the trampoline did explode but not why it exploded".

The inquest continues.